This is not music criticism. On this blog, you will only read about music we like.

Friday, August 11, 2017

The Stammer - Face In Peril

In real estate "good bones" make some old homes good homes to purchase. In pop music, the same is true when the old standard of relationships gone bad is coupled with good songwriting and sincere, adept performances. And by that measure Face In Peril, the new album from The Stammer, is a keeper. The Philadelphia band starts with the spirit of Lou Reed's chugging guitar-oriented approach and adds in dashes of the type of American rock we've loved from bands as diverse as early Springsteen, Pela, and the Henry Clay People. The result is both familiar and fresh.

Face In Peril races through the excellent first four tracks while the band sinks a big hook in the listener's brain, and then takes a breath for the affecting midtempo ballad "Eleven". The uptempo rock parade relaunches with the jangle pop "Run Across The Bridge" and continues through the country-rock shaded "What Else Did You Come Around Here For?" and the Reed-meets-Springsteen musical celebration that is "Young Hearts". The epic, slow burning title track bridges to "Slender", the jangling bittersweet closer. This album is a terrific musical statement from a band that deserves a much higher profile. Check it out below and at the Bandcamp link.